KABUL, Dec 14: A bitter cold spell has left 40 Afghan children dead and more than 1,000 refugees in dire conditions in camps along the border with Pakistan, relief workers said on Saturday.

“At least 40 children have died from cold in three camps of Afghan refugees in Spin Boldak,” Mohammad Iqbal, an official at Edhi Welfare Centre in Chaman, told AFP.

Three officials of Edhi, Pakistan’s main welfare organization, visited the camps in the Afghan town of Spin Boldak, 20 kilometers from the border, blaming unusually harsh weather for the deaths.

“The temperature is freezing there and more than 1,000 inhabitants of these camps are in miserable condition. We have sent urgent appeals to our headquarters in Karachi for relief goods,” Iqbal said. Relief workers scrambled to provide blankets, tents, medicines and warm clothing to fight temperatures reaching minus 15 degrees Celsius, he added.—AFP